Tim Baines, Postmedia Network

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It's intimidating, yet staring down a hole that has brought so many to their knees is cool, a bucket-lister for any golfer.

The Island Green, the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass The Players Stadium Course, is technically a peninsula, but trying to cozy a golf ball onto that green from 132 yards out has been a nightmare for some of the world's top players. After knocking two balls into the water -- one short and another wide right -- I put my nine iron back into the bag and moved on.

"I've seen carnage on the 17th," said TPC Sawgrass GM Bill Hughes. "Forget about the tour pros, I watch junior tournaments here all the time. I saw a kid from Sweden with a seven-shot lead lose by three. He makes 11 on the hole because you start hitting it in the water and all hell breaks loose. There are tour pros who hate the thing. But it's a marketing gold mine. Everyone from around the world wants to play that one golf hole. On the front end, it was controversial. You couldn't not watch it because you don't know what's about to happen, it's like going to a Daytona 500, 'Where's the next wreck going to be?' "

The course will host The Players Championship May 10-15 in Ponte Vedra Beach, a suburb of Jacksonville and located near the wonderfully quaint St. Augustine, home of the fountain of youth (note to self, take more than a sip, drink a jug of it next time).

The Players Championship just got a lot more accessible for Canadians flying through Toronto with Air Canada's new non-stop flights from Pearson Airport to Jacksonville beginning May 7.

It's a trip you need to make. TPC Sawgrass is much more than just a wonderful golf pasture, it's an experience, a spectacle steeped in history. And it's a helluva challenge.

Said Matt Rapp, executive director of The Players: If you went out and asked golfers, 'Create a golf tournament, what would you create?' Honestly, you'd create this."

A visit to the course, which started as 415 acres of wetlands and swamp and was purchased by the PGA Tour for $1, is educational, captivating and magical. There are 60 guys in burgundy coats waiting to tell you about the history. The walls of the clubhouse are full of portraits of past champions, a Who's Who of the game.

The atmosphere at the fan-friendly tournament is out of this world, with customer satisfaction a high priority. The stadium seating gives fans a view they won't get elsewhere.

Nearby is beautiful St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied city in the U.S. It's full of brick-paved streets, amazing architecture, eclectic dining and electric nightlife, along with the serenity of the beach.

Just outside of St. Augustine, there's the World Golf Village, a smorgasbord of awesomeness for golf fans, with a couple of excellent courses -- the Slammer and Squire (Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen), and King and Bear (Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus).

As impressive as anything you'll see at World Golf Village is the World Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, a delightful walk through history where you can almost hear whispers from many of the greatest names in golf.

Recently a young girl walking through the museum was heard to say: "This is my daddy's Disney World."